Indeed, it only seemed yesterday we were cozying up next to the Pains of Being Pure At Heart before their Toronto gig. Now, with an inordinate amount of online hype and a pretty darn good record to boot, the Pains hit the road with about a gazillion dates.
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Words and photos by Zachary Timm
It was expected that this was going to be a loud raucous rock ‘n’ roll show, I mean all you have to say is …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of The Dead is playing and you know what you are in for. What I wasn’t expecting was that the opening band, Midnight Masses was going to blow them out of the water.
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Words by Michael Cranston
Photos by Ben Crocker
“Do you want some food or some gummy bears or something?” I’m backstage with Kip Berman, front man of The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, as he offers items off their deli trey. “No, thanks. I’ve eaten.” They arrived at Toronto’s Lee’s Palace at 8:00 p.m., quickly lugged their equipment into the venue and immediately began sound checking. Now, the band is eating their dinner (sandwiches, bananas, Gatorade) in the 2-minutes they have to spare until, 1. the interview begins, and 2. their show starts. “Then want a picture of me eating my sandwich?” Yes, I certainly do.
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No band name so accurately captures its own essence as The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Their self-imposed credo is simply to be true to yourself and to your friends. Life and love hurt, but there’s always humor in the pain. Straight out of the 1980s with an affinity for shoegaze, the New York based quartet come at us with tales of lost/dumb love while emphasizing the silver lining of heartbreak more than its personal destruction. Their lamentable title isn’t as much a cry of self-pity as a personal affirmation of identity and character. The eponymous debut is about embracing the pain: harboring unrealistic expectations, being a masochist who keeps going back to him/her, and dealing with malaise and insecurity. Always beaten but never broken, POBPAH articulate relational pain and youthful generational anxieties impeccably.
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